Behind the scenes of 'The Witches of Paisley'. A dramatic re-telling of Paisley's witch
Paisley - it's one of Scotland's biggest towns and it has an even bigger history. This town in Renfrewshirshire is responsible for a multitude of aspects in Scotland's heritage; from textiles, to the Paisley pattern, to the vibrant community that it is today.
Earlier this month, on the 8th and 9th of December, Paisley Opera conducted a performance for the residents and lovers of Paisley's history and culture. 'The Witches of Paisley' was a dramatic re-telling of the Paisley Witch trials, performed through Opera. This two-day event debuted on the 8th of December. Whilst the last rehearsals were being practised, Simon Hannigan, the Artistic Director for the Paisley Opera answered a few questions about the show that was to debut only a few hours later.
Interview with Simon Hannigan, Artistic Director for Paisley Opera
Q) What is your formal position in the Paisley Opera?
A) My grand title is Artistic Director of Paisley Opera.
Q) How important do you think it is to focus on Paisley’s history for today’s culture in Paisley?
A) I think it’s very important. I think the main reason, because we’re a very new company and this is our first big show and we wanted to use bits of Opera but we wanted to take a very well known, local story and this is probably the most well-known local story. Although, a surprising number of people still don’t know about it – and it works perfectly here as well (in the Paisley Abbey) I think it’s really important because this building connects to this story and was directly involved in the events at the time, so Paisley Abbey is a really important part of this history, and I think the stories are too.
Q) Why do you think Opera is an effective way to re-tell the events that happened?
A)I think Opera is a very powerful medium, we’re not doing a re-enactment here…it’s not a historical re-enactment – lots of people have done that before and they’ve done it very well but what we’re doing is trying to get all sorts of emotions involved and Opera is very good at expressing emotion and that’s really what we’re trying to do in this piece.
Q)How did Paisley Opera become involved in this event? Was it Paisley Opera that started it?
A) Yes, it was our idea. We were looking for a show to do and rather than, for our first show, doing a whole opera we thought it’d be more accesible for people to take a story that they already know and to introduce bits of opera into that.
Q) Do you think there’s added pressure when portraying real life events such as the witch trials, for the show to be successful?
A) I think so, we’ve been surprised and delighted at how well this show has sold, I mean, it’s our first show and I think the whole Witch ‘stories have caught people’s imagination. We’re sold out tonight and we’re nearly sold out tomorrow night and we’re really pleased about that, I think the Witch’ story is a fascinating and tragic story and is very much a part of Paisley.
Q) How do you think those who were involved in the trials, particularly the victims, would react if they were to somehow know that hundreds of years on, the story of the trials and their deaths is being made into an event like this?
A) That’s a difficult question. I’m sure they would be interested, I’m no expert on the subject but from what I’ve read they were all different individuals so they would all have different reactions to it – some might hate it, some I hope would like it.
Q) Is Christian Shaw featured in tonight’s show? (Christian Shaw was one of the main accusers of the Paisley Witch trials).
A) She certainly features, yes. In the way we are presenting it at the beginning, it’s like a sort of flashback – because I’m sure you know she became very succesful and was partly responsible for founding the cloth industry in Paisley and she goes into a sort of dream-type state.
Q) And Christian Shaw features because she actually accused people. Do you think that what Christian Shaw was claiming of these people were true, and that she truly believed the things she was accusing them of?
A) Coming from it from a modern perspective, most people would accept that it’s completely nuts now. There are modern interpretations of what she went through that describe it as hysteria and I suppose, for me, that seems the most logical explanation. However, we need to see it in the spirit of the times that it was in as well as people believed very firmly in the devil and embodiments of evil.
Q) Why do you think people of Paisley would be particularly interested in an event like this, especially as the subject is quite grim?
A) Well, people like a grim story. Everybody’s different and people are coming to see it for different reasons. It’s a fascinating story and the horseshoe in Paisley, in the middle of the road, is a reminder to Paisley’s residents every time they walk or drive through that area of Paisley’s past, and so I think people are very aware of it and it’s sort of become a major background story to Paisley.
Q)So I suppose my last question is, how are you feeling about tonight’s event?
A) Excited! Nervous! But, I’m excited and the volunteer chorus worked particularly hard over the last six months to get to this stage and I’m incredibly proud of what they’ve done – I think they’ve done an amazing job.
Q) So, the preparation has been happening for six months then?
A) Yeah, pretty much. We started the chorus back in February but we started rehearsing for this about six months ago.
Q) How long is tonight’s show?
A) Just about an hour. We didn’t want to choose a three-hour long opera, but something short and something that people would remember.
As Simon Hannigan explains, this event was Paisley Opera's, "first big show" but as he later states, he was "delighted" at how well the show had sold - as its debut night was completely sold out. In a sense, it is very clear that many people, not just from Paisley, are passionate about Paisley's and Scotland's history, even if it is "a tragic story" - but it is history nonetheless.
Simon goes on to explain that, even though the subject of the show is grim, it truly is a “fascinating subject” to which it has become a “major background story to Paisley”.
The excitement and passion for the show among the cast and crew members and everyone involved radiated through the rehearsals. From the singers and volunteer chorus, to the musicians, to everyone involved, it was clearly going to be a memorable night for Paisley Opera and everyone who attended the event.
Rightfully so, as the Artistic Director, Simon Hannigan stated that he was, “incredibly proud” of the volunteer chorus as they had done an “amazing job”. The volunteer chorus was formed in February of this year, and rehearsals began around six months ago.
If you want to find out more about the Paisley witch trials and Scotland's witch trial history, check out my short documentary that I made last year on this interesting and important subject of Scotland's past.
